Knitting Pipeline is sponsored by my Longaberger home businessn and Quince & Co.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Thank you to Quince & Co for sponsoring this episode of Knitting Pipeline. Sign up for their free newsletter.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and condolences.

A Winner!

The winner of the Owl Sweater Project Bag is Hybridgirl! Thank you to Three Bags Full for 5 beautiful handcrafted project bags. You can still get FREE shipping through May 31, 2011 by using the promo code "piper" at check out.

Leave a comment below to enter the drawing for two owl patterns by Susan B. Anderson. One is Hoot Hat and the other is just being released! I've been following Susan's blog for a long time. Check it out!

Pipeliner Tip

Tracy is knitting Those Mitts by Leslie Friend for high school graduation gifts. She is using the colors of the college of their choice in the mitts.

Owls

People have been fascinated by owls since before recorded history. Prehistoric man painted owls on cave walls. Owls are a part of folklore and mythology. Owls have represented good, they have represented evil. Owls have been the portent of death and the messenger of birth. They have been associated with goddesses, witches, wise men, and prophets. Possibly no other bird has been so feared, loved, despised and revered. There are 133 species of owls world wide and they are found on every continent except Antarctica. They live in snowy landscapes and in deserts and everything in between. When I looked at the many species of owls I was amazed at the variety…and yet each one does look like an owl. The flat beak and the large eyes embedded in spherical discs are two characteristics that stand out among the majority of owl species.

So what makes owls different from other birds and why do people over centuries love them and fear them?
Owls are nocturnal birds and although we often hear them we seldom see them. This nocturnal activity makes them more mysterious than a bird that hops about on the ground or flies during the day. Nighttime is often associated with evil and the unknown. Their large somewhat human eyes and their keen sense of hearing and seeing also makes us think they know something that we don’t know. Although they are nocturnal it is not true that they cannot see during the day. The fact is that their sight is very good in the daylight but their prey is usually active at night.

Like humans, owls have binocular vision. The vision from each eye overlaps. Most birds have monocular vision which is why you see a robin cocking its head to look downward. They cannot see as well straight ahead.

Owls eyes are sometimes as large as human eyes but of course owls are much smaller. Even the largest owls are only a little over 2 ¼ feet long. Their eyeballs are not round like ours though. They are tubular; therefore, an owl cannot look to the side without turning its head.

In Greek mythology, the goddess Athene had a Little Owl. Owls were a sign of victory if one flew over troops in battle. Owls are on ancient Greek coins. Many owls inhabited the Acropolis and were protected there.

Owls announced the death of Julius Caesar and Agrippa.

The Blethering Room

Estelle KAL update. Quite a few of us started over because our gauge was off. Pipeliners Goldybear, Redbird1, and JanMarie met for an evening of Estelle KAL Knitting in Public.

From left, Goldybear, Redbird1, and JanMarie. I am so happy that our Estelle KAL brought these three together.

A pair of Barn Owls had fans from all over the world when they raised their owlets on a webcam.

Activity TV has an origami owl-shaped bookmark. There is video instruction and written instructions.

Owl Bookmarks

Owl Bookmark in action.

Turkey eavesdropping on podcast.

Nature Notes

The four main owls in our area of Central Illinois.

Great Horned Owl largest owl in our area. yellow eyes and ear tufts.Barred Owl: an owl of deciduous woodlands. Known as Eight-Hooter because of its call: . "Who, who, who cooks for yooooooouuuuu?"Screech Owl Smallest owl in our area. Sounds like a cell phone.Barn Owl light in color. heart-shaped face and long legs. Somewhat endangered due to dwindling number of habitats.

Loved learning all the info about owls! We have a number of those Thornton Burgess books. Makes me want to get them out and reread them again. I love the idea of fingerless mitts for grad presents, too--brilliant! We will be making some owl origami bookmarks, for sure. Thanks for all your work on the podcast. I look forward to the weekend to hear your next episode.

The owl themed episode was great! I once accidently disturbed a barn owl that was in an abandoned mine adit. I am an archaeologist and we have to record historic mines when we come across them. We must have disturbed the owl when we got near the entrance because he came flying out straight at us! I wish I had gotten a better look but I was just too startled. It was very cool though!

Thanks for the owl information. Your story about the owls you observed reminded me of one of my childrens' favorite stories: Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/716944.Owl_Babies

Paula, what a wonderful podcast about owls! They really have captured our imaginations for thousands of years as few other birds have, and they continue to do so. I love the owls in JKRowling's Harry Potter universe. My son was an ardent fan of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books by Kathryn Lasky (now being made into a movie), in which the characters were owls. And I must mention one of my favorites, Hoot by Carl Hiaasen; it's one of those young adult books to be enjoyed by everyone (and had a movie, but don't miss the book).

I've enjoyed knitting several items with owls and I'm currently working on a Daybreak in the colors of the snowy owl. Now I have more owly items to add to my Ravelry queue!

Not sure if you have seen this owl video, with a black cat http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387597/The-owl-pussycat-best-friends.htmlI love owls, we occasionally see very large great horned owls in VA.

This was so informative! It's funny to me, because as I sit here and listen to the podcast I am also listening to the owl that lives outside of my building! I am wondering what type it is now! Thank you for the lovely podcast - now back to my Estelle!

Really nice podcast, I will definitely visit again. I would love to have Susan's owl patterns. I recently purchased her new book Spud & Chloe at the Farm and am hoping to have her sign it Saturday at the KY Sheep & Fiber Festival. Wish me luck!p.s. I remember the book Mother Westwind's Neighbors from when I was a little girl. I will have to try to track down a copy.

My 6 year old daughter is obsessed with owls! It started last summer with the Guardians of Ga'Hoole book/movie (we had to stop reading it b/c it was a bit violent for her age, but she still loves it!), and now she loves Hedwig from HP (I have to admit I egged her on in that regard--huge HP fan!!). Anyway, she knits, loves owls and we would love to make these this summer. I'm also checking out all the other links you posted. Thanks for having this contest!

What a fascinating episode. I have to admit that I know very little about owls and have been a little slow on the owl knitting bandwagon. I'm still recovering from the 1970's owl fad. We had owls made from English walnuts on burlap. We had ceramic owls. We had an orange plastic key ring hanger with sparkles. I'm sure I made one of the iconic counted-cross stitch owls.

Now, I'm much more attracted to owls because of the focus on nature and real-live owls instead of stylized owls. I have yet to see an owl in it's natural habitat. We are going camping next weekend. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to hear one and maybe see one.

I love owls too! Did you get to see Molly in the Owl Box last year? It was box in CA that had a camera installed to watch the eggs hatch, the owls grow up, and even a second batch the same year! Thank you for another great podcast.Lisa (ColoradoKid on rav)

I loved learning there were others who know the "Wise old owl" poem, as my grandmother quoted it frequently when I was a child. And now I'd love the pattern to make the owl hat for my grandson and teach the poem to him!

Paula thank you so much! Your podcasts are so educative - this one was superb! I am going to get my kingergartner to read the children's books listed here & will be looking forward to knitting him an owl sweater too!

Paula, this was a fascinating episode! It reminded me of the only two times that I have actually seen an owl. The first, one of my earliest memories, was when I was about three or four. We were visiting my grandfather in Quincy, Illinois, and either he or my mother must have seen the owl in the tree outside the house and brought me to the window to see it, too. I have this very clear memory of looking out and seeing the owl, and then hearing it later, as I was going off to sleep.

The second time was in the mid-80s, when I lived in the Albany, New York area. It was the middle of the day, and I was driving on Interstate 87, just outside of Albany. As I passed a big green exit sign, there, perched on the top of it was a large, beautiful, snowy owl. It must have stayed there for a while, because the next day, there was a photograph in the newspaper of that gorgeous bird.

Another literary reference. In T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" (one of my all-time favorite books), Merlin has an owl named Archimedes which sits on his shoulder and makes a terrible mess of the magician's clothes. Archimedes helps the young Arthur as he learns about life.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback and for entering the drawing. The contest is now closed and a new one will open on Friday May 20th when Episode 43 is released. Feel free to leave comments if you like.